Weak Class 3 is the small but tidy class that adds -de in the preterite and -d in the supine: leve → levde → har levd, "live → lived → have lived." It is the third of Norwegian's four weak (regular) classes — the others are Class 1 (-et/-a), Class 2 (-te/-t), and Class 4 (-dde/-dd), all mapped on verbs/weak-verbs-overview. What makes Class 3 worth a dedicated page is why it exists: the d of -de is the voiced twin of the t of Class 2's -te, and Norwegian sorts verbs between the two by exactly the same voicing logic that English uses — silently — when it pronounces lived with a /d/ but walked with a /t/. English speakers already own this instinct. They just have to learn to spell it.
The forms: -de in the preterite, -d in the supine
Class 3 attaches -de straight onto the stem (the infinitive minus its -e) for the preterite, and -d for the supine. No vowel change, no doubling — just a voiced dental ending.
| Infinitive | Stem | Preterite (-de) | Supine (-d) | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| å leve | lev- | levde | har levd | live |
| å prøve | prøv- | prøvde | har prøvd | try |
| å eie | ei- | eide | har eid | own |
| å bygge | byg- | bygde | har bygd | build |
| å greie | grei- | greide | har greid | manage / pull off |
| å pleie | plei- | pleide | har pleid | use to (habitual) |
Han levde i Bergen hele livet.
He lived in Bergen his whole life.
Jeg prøvde å ringe deg flere ganger i går.
I tried to call you several times yesterday.
De eide en liten hytte ved sjøen.
They owned a little cabin by the sea.
Notice the supine is just the preterite minus the final -e: levde → levd, prøvde → prøvd, eide → eid. This is the same "drop the -e" rule as Class 2 (spiste → spist); only the consonant differs (-d not -t).
Vi har levd her i over tjue år.
We've lived here for over twenty years.
Har du prøvd den nye kafeen ennå?
Have you tried the new café yet?
Which stems land in Class 3: the voiced trigger
A verb falls into Class 3 when its stem ends in a voiced sound that pairs naturally with a voiced d — chiefly:
- a voiced v: leve → levde, prøve → prøvde, kreve → krevde (demand)
- a voiced g: bygge → bygde, eie-type stems and -eie/-øye diphthongs
- a diphthong ending in a glide: eie → eide, greie → greide, pleie → pleide, veie → veide (weigh)
The thread is voicing. A voiced consonant or a vowel-glide flows smoothly into the voiced -de; a voiceless consonant (p, t, k, s, f) would clash with it, and those stems go to Class 2's voiceless -te instead (kjøpe → kjøpte, lese → leste). Your vocal cords are doing the sorting.
The English instinct you already have
Here is the insight that makes Class 3 almost free for English speakers. English adds a single written ending -ed to regular verbs, but pronounces it two ways depending on voicing:
- after a voiced sound: -ed is said /d/ — lived /lɪvd/, tried /traɪd/, owned /oʊnd/.
- after a voiceless sound: -ed is said /t/ — walked /wɔːkt/, kissed /kɪst/, hoped /hoʊpt/.
You have never been taught this rule, yet you follow it flawlessly: nobody says "li-v-t" or "wal-k-d." Norwegian simply writes the distinction English only pronounces. Lived (voiced /d/) is levde with a written d; walked (voiceless /t/) is gikk — well, a strong verb — but hoped /t/ patterns like håpe → håpet/håpte. Line up the cognates and the system clicks: where your English ear hears a /d/, Norwegian writes -de; where it hears a /t/, Norwegian writes -te.
| English (heard) | Voicing | Norwegian class & ending |
|---|---|---|
| lived /d/ | voiced | Class 3: levde |
| tried /d/ | voiced (glide) | Class 3: prøvde / greide |
| walked /t/ | voiceless | Class 2: -te (e.g. kjøpte) |
| kissed /t/ | voiceless | Class 2: leste, reiste |
So you do not have to memorise Class 3 from scratch. Ask: if this were an English verb, would the -ed sound like /d/ or /t/? A /d/ steers you to -de; a /t/ steers you to -te.
Vi bygde huset selv, stein for stein.
We built the house ourselves, stone by stone.
Hun greide eksamen til slutt.
She managed to pass the exam in the end.
Competition with Class 2: some verbs go both ways
Honesty time: the boundary between Class 3 (-de) and Class 2 (-te) is not airtight. A number of v- and g-stem verbs are accepted in both classes, and which you meet depends on the verb, the register, and increasingly on changing usage. Bygge is the standard example: bygde / bygd is the established Class 3 form, while you will also see bygget (a Class 1 treatment) in some texts. Pleie is firmly pleide / pleid. A few formal or older verbs (kreve → krevde, but also the more literary krevet) wobble.
There is no clean rule that resolves every case — you confirm the standard form per verb in a dictionary. The good news is that the core Class 3 list is short and stable: leve, prøve, eie, greie, pleie, veie, bygge, kreve and a handful more. Learn those as the canonical -de verbs and you have the class covered.
Før i tiden pleide vi å feire jul hos bestemor.
In the old days we used to celebrate Christmas at Grandma's.
Pakken veide nesten ti kilo.
The parcel weighed almost ten kilos.
Common Mistakes
1. Using -te (Class 2) after a voiced stem. The single most common Class 3 error: writing levte for levde because -te feels like the "default" past.
❌ Han levte i Tromsø i mange år.
Incorrect — leve is Class 3, voiced: levde, not 'levte'.
✅ Han levde i Tromsø i mange år.
He lived in Tromsø for many years.
2. Confusing the supines: -d vs -t. The Class 3 supine ends in -d (prøvd), not the Class 2 -t (prøvt is wrong).
❌ Jeg har prøvt alt.
Incorrect — Class 3 supine is prøvd, with -d.
✅ Jeg har prøvd alt.
I've tried everything.
3. Keeping the -e in the supine. As in Class 2, the supine drops the preterite's final -e: levde → levd, not levde.
❌ Vi har levde her lenge.
Incorrect — the supine is levd, not the preterite levde.
✅ Vi har levd her lenge.
We've lived here a long time.
4. Adding -et (Class 1) to a diphthong stem. Eie and greie take -de/-d, not the Class 1 -et.
❌ Hun greiet det til slutt.
Incorrect — greie is Class 3: greide / greid.
✅ Hun greide det til slutt.
She managed it in the end.
5. Forgetting that pleie is Class 3 (and means 'used to'). Pleide is the high-frequency way to say habitual past; the form is -de.
❌ Vi pleiet å gå tur hver søndag.
Incorrect — pleie is Class 3: pleide.
✅ Vi pleide å gå tur hver søndag.
We used to go for a walk every Sunday.
Key Takeaways
- Class 3 = preterite -de, supine -d, with no vowel change: leve → levde → levd, prøve → prøvde → prøvd, eie → eide → eid.
- It applies to stems ending in a voiced v or g, or a diphthong glide — the voiced sound pairs with the voiced -de.
- The Class 3 (-de) vs Class 2 (-te) split is the same voicing rule that makes English say lived /d/ but walked /t/ — you already have the instinct; Norwegian just spells it out.
- The supine drops the preterite's -e: levde → levd, never prøvt (that's a Class 2 ending) or levde (that's the preterite).
- A few v/g-stems vary between Class 3 and Class 2/1 (bygde ~ bygget); confirm per verb, but the core list — leve, prøve, eie, greie, pleie, veie, bygge, kreve — is stable.
Now practice Norwegian
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Start learning Norwegian→Related Topics
- Weak Verbs: The Four ClassesA2 — A map of the four regular Norwegian past-tense classes (-et/-a, -te, -de, -dde) — how to predict a verb's class from its stem and how the supine differs from the preterite.
- Weak Class 2: -te / -t (spise)A2 — The -te class — preterite in -te, supine in -t (spise → spiste → har spist) — its voiceless-consonant logic, and the one-letter difference between preterite and supine.
- Weak Class 4: -dde / -dd (bo, tro)A2 — The small but high-frequency class for vowel-final verbs — they double the d (bo → bodde → har bodd, tro → trodde → har trodd) — plus the related irregular ha → hadde → hatt.
- Preterite vs Perfect: When to Use WhichB1 — When to use the preterite (jeg spiste) versus the present perfect (jeg har spist) — the definite-time test, the 'still true now' perfect, and where Norwegian and English quietly diverge.
- Weak Class 1 (-et) vs Class 2 (-te)B1 — A phonological heuristic for predicting whether a regular Norwegian verb takes the Class 1 -et ending or the Class 2 -te/-t — the stem's final sound usually tells you which.